Paint shakers are used to mix paint prior to sale of the paint and/or prior to use to ensure a homogenous mixture of the paint components that may have separated. Additionally, paint shakers are used to thoroughly mix a tint or colorant to the paint to add and/or change the color of the paint.
One apparatus used for shaking paint employs a top plate and a bottom plate that is moved toward and compresses the paint container between the plates. The plates then move in unison in an up and down direction to thoroughly mix the paint. When a color additive is added to the container by first removing the lid, the compression of the two plates ensures that the paint container lid or cap remains secured to the container body. In this way, no paint can be spilled from the container as the container is moved up and down. The plates move up and down relative to one another along a vector that is perpendicular to both of the plates. The top plate is moved up sufficient to allow the paint container to be removed. Typically, the container is loaded into the shaker between the top and bottom plates in a direction that is parallel to the two planes defined by the top and bottom plates.
A second type of apparatus is a shaker (commonly referred to as a “vortex” or rotary or orbital shaker) that moves the container along one axis in one path (e.g. rotary) to mix the paint, and along another axis in another path (e.g. orbital) to mix the paint. In this type of shaker (referred to in this disclosure as an orbital and/or rotary shaker), the container is not moved up and down but rather in an orbital or rotary path. Examples of this type of shaker include the Model No. 5600 AutoSperse Paint Shaker and the Model No. 5610 AutoSperse Paint Shaker, both commercially available from Red Devil Equipment Company of Brooklyn Park, Minn. In this type of shaker, the paint container is typically loaded into a bucket or holder that has a top opening and a cavity to receive the paint container. In contrast to the compression mixers discussed above, the bucket or holder holds the container in place. Since the paint container is not shaken in an up down direction, the paint container need not be clamped in the up/down direction. This type of shaker allows for easy insertion and removal of the paint container by simply placing the paint container within the open end of the bucket or holder. If the cap or lid of the paint container is not securely fixed to the body of the paint container, it is possible that paint will leak out of the cap during the rotary motion of the container.
Such known shakers are typically configured for use with a single sized container of paint, such as a one-gallon container of paint. However, such known shakers are not well adapted for use with other sized containers of paint, such as a one-quart container of paint.
It is known to use an adapter with such known shakers for use with multiple sized containers of paint (e.g. one-gallon and one-quart). Such known adapters are typically configured for use with conventional containers of paint having a circular perimeter. However, such known adapters may result in an unbalanced or inadequate mixing of the paint and are not configured for use with containers of paint having other perimeters (e.g. “D”-shaped).
It would be desirable to provide a system for holding a paint container in a paint shaker that permits for mixing of multiple sized containers of paint. It would also be desirable to combine the benefit of the rotary and/or orbital motion of the rotary and/or orbital shaker with the benefit of a compression clamp to ensure that the paint container does not leak during the rotary or orbital motion. It would also be desirable to provide a system for holding a paint container in a paint shaker that provides for balanced and thorough mixing of the paint. It would further be desirable to a system for holding a paint container in a paint shaker that is relatively easy to use by a retail store operator. It would still further be desirable to a system for holding a paint container in a paint shaker having one or more of these or other advantageous features.